Public comments are due Nov. 18 on how “children are affected by digital advertising and marketing messages that may blur the line between ads and entertainment,” the FTC said Tuesday. The comment solicitation is part of an agency effort that includes an Oct. 19 event on online safety for children (see 2205190058). The FTC declined to extend the public comment period for a proposed rule “that would ban junk fees and bait-and-switch advertising tactics that can plague consumers throughout the car-buying experience.” The commission voted 5-0 to keep the Sept. 22 deadline, saying stakeholders argued in favor of both extending and declining the extension. The public will have had 80 days to review the proposed rule at deadline, the agency said.

Intel, Meta and Qualcomm representatives met virtually with staff from the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology on the proposal for the 60 GHz band (see 2206010046). The plan “divides the 57-64 GHz band into three segments to allow for 2 GHz, 4.5 GHz and 7 GHz radars that generally map to the channels in the IEEE 802.11ad/ay standards,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 21-264: “It allows high-powered, unrestricted frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar operations in the lowermost 2 GHz, equal access by radars and communications in the middle of the band, and continued radar operations across the entire 7 GHz band by the current Google Soli product.” The band was the topic of an FCC NPRM last summer (see 2107130066).

CTA hailed the FDA’s final rule, published in Wednesday’s Federal Register, establishing a category of over-the-counter hearing aids for consumers with mild to moderate hearing loss for purchase at a pharmacy or online without the need for a visit to an audiologist. OTC hearing aids “will benefit tens of millions of Americans, reducing the cost, social isolation and stigma experienced by many people with mild to moderate hearing loss,” said CTA President Gary Shapiro Tuesday. “After a decade of pushing, this change removes hurdles to distributing affordable and accessible hearing aids.”

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel welcomed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s decision upholding the agency’s 2020 5.9 GHz order (see 2208120035). “In the more than two decades since the FCC allocated the 5.9 GHz band to support automobile safety, autonomous and connected vehicles have largely moved beyond dedicated, short-range communications technologies to newer, market-driven alternatives,” Rosenworcel said Friday: The decision "recognizes that by allowing this spectrum to evolve we can advance newer safety technologies and grow our wireless economy.” Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America, noted the court reached a similar decision on the 6 GHz band. “Unsurprisingly, the D.C. Circuit reinforced its similar decision last December that the FCC has wide discretion to authorize unlicensed sharing of underutilized spectrum or even, in this case, to reallocate a portion of a lightly-used band to provide more bandwidth for next generation Wi-Fi,” Calabrese emailed: “Since Chairwoman Rosenworcel was a driving force behind the FCC’s unanimous 5-0 votes to authorize unlicensed use of both the 5.9 and 6 GHz bands, consumer advocates expect she will now move quickly to complete both proceedings and maintain the U.S. position as the global leader in Wi-Fi technologies.”

FCC information collection requirements for TV white space database rules, approved by commissioners 5-0 in 2019 (see 1903200059), are effective Friday, said a notice for that day’s Federal Register.

The FCC extended to Sept. 21 the deadline for nominations to its Consumer Advisory Committee. Nominations had been due Aug. 1. The group last met in April (see 2204260056). The agency plans to renew its charter on or before Oct. 16.

A proposal from the top Republican on the House Commerce Committee to add technologists, psychologists and youth development experts to the FTC is “one of the best ideas in the modern tech debate that has received way too little attention,” Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya said Tuesday. Bedoya is “thrilled” the proposal from House Commerce Committee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., was included in the committee’s bipartisan privacy bill, the American Data Privacy and Protection Act (HR-8152) (see 2207200061). Speaking at the National Association of Attorneys General Presidential Summit, Bedoya said he, Commissioner Christine Wilson and the rest of the commission are studying legislation and “looking at other constructive steps we can take to advance research, heighten awareness, and protect children online.” Bedoya expressed interest in protections against online scams in “all languages” and protections for geolocation data. Any company that uses location data “should think hard about how to better protect their users,” he said. Bedoya said he will ask companies whether the data collection is necessary, how the data is being used and what more can be done to protect it.

The FCC handed down a $685,338 fine against Sound Around for allegedly marketing 32 models of wireless mics that failed to comply with the agency’s equipment marketing rules. “That the company marketed noncompliant wireless devices -- in some cases the same exact models -- for more than a decade and repeatedly ignored warnings and failed to respond or fully respond to investigative inquiries led to a significantly higher fine,” the agency said Monday. The FCC imposed a base fine of $7,000 per model, said the forfeiture order. “The Commission upwardly adjusted the base forfeiture for the marketing violations because Sound Around apparently had marketed noncompliant devices since at least 2009,” the commission said: “This long history of repeated and continuous marketing of non-compliant wireless microphones warranted a significant upward adjustment.” Two models were “an egregious threat to public safety," the agency said. The New York City-based company didn’t comment.

Meta has until Aug. 22 to list its personal social networking features on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger so the FTC can better define the relevant market in its antitrust lawsuit against the company, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled Monday in 1:20-cv-03590 before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (see 2201110071). Meta asked the court to compel the FTC to “more fully answer” whether certain features or activities available to platform users are within the definition of personal social networking. Meta “understandably seeks a clearer definition of what the FTC maintains is the personal-social-networking-services market,” Boasberg wrote. The FTC argued it sufficiently answered the question and will know more during discovery. Boasberg said a “middle ground” is the “wisest approach.” Meta is in a “much better” position than the agency to list each feature and activity, Boasberg said, ordering the company to produce the list. Meta “seems reasonable in asking the FTC to define the relevant market, given that its investigation has long since commenced,” he wrote. After Meta provides the list by Aug. 22, the FTC has until Sep. 22 to “inform Meta whether each such feature or activity is or is not within that definition,” Boasberg wrote. If the FTC changes its position on any of the items in the future, it can issue a supplemental response, he said.

Comments are due Sept. 26 on the FTC’s proposed revisions for ad endorsement guidelines (see 2205190058), said a notice for Tuesday's Federal Register. The agency said it plans to expand definitions for online influencers and set clear rules for prohibiting manipulation of consumer reviews, omission of bad reviews and buying fake reviews. The updated guidelines will reflect the “extent to which advertisers have turned increasingly to the use of social media and product reviews to market their products,” said the FTC.